Pompeii's Ghosts (A James Acton Thriller, #9) Read Online Free PDF

waved,
forcing a smile on his terrified face as Hamid crested a nearby hill with his
share of the herd. Their boss, Yemane, was wealthy—the wealthiest man Birhan
knew—his herd large, needing six men to tend to it on a daily basis. The pay
was fair, but Yemane was ruthless should something go wrong. Lose an animal? It
came out of your share, even if it wasn’t your fault. As far as Yemane was
concerned, any animal that cleared the gates was no longer his. And his
foreman, Sheshy, was the most vicious man Birhan had ever encountered, he
rumored to have killed an American soldier. Birhan had always wondered how the
story could be true since he had never known Sheshy to have left the village
his entire life.
    Maybe
we can go to America with the money I get from the gold?
    The
thought excited him and he almost forgot to keep his herd separate from that of
Hamid’s. A couple of flicks of the wrist had his herd on the right side of the
road, Hamid’s on the left as they covered the final distance to the farm.
    “Good
day?” asked Hamid.
    Birhan
hesitated, desperate to tell his friend of several decades what he had found.
After all, why shouldn’t his friends share in his find? There was far too much
gold in the hold of the boat he had discovered for him to ever use.
    “Yes,”
he finally replied, and immediately upon hearing his voice he knew it sounded
uncertain.
    And
Hamid called him on it.
    “You
don’t sound sure. Did something happen?” His jaw dropped, his hand
instinctively tapping his cane, causing a slightly larger gap between their two
herds. “Did you lose a goat?”
    Birhan
shook his head. “No, but thanks for trusting me that I wouldn’t try to merge
our herds and claim it was yours that had fallen,” he said, nodding toward
Hamid’s cane.
    Hamid
looked confused then looked at the cane, realizing what Birhan was referring
to. He roared in laughter, causing the two herds to rush ahead slightly,
startled. “Sorry, my friend, I’m used to working with Woldu. You know how that
bastard is.”
    Birhan
smiled, nodding. If there was one man who couldn’t be trusted, it was Woldu.
He’d sell out his own father if he thought it would save him facing the
consequences of any of his own actions.
    He was a
truly despicable human being.
    Not like
Hamid, who was just like Birhan. He too was saddled with progeny, three
daughters. Three! The mere thought was enough to make up his mind.
    “I found
something,” he said, lowering his voice so it wouldn’t carry.
    “What?
You found something, did you say?”
    “Yes.
But don’t say anything to anyone. I’ll show you later.”
    Hamid
shrugged. “Why, is it valuable?”
    Birhan
nodded. “Which is why you must say nothing. You’ll understand once I show you.”
    Hamid
seemed to be getting excited. He glanced all around them, joining Birhan in his
nervous surveillance of their surroundings. They appeared to be alone, but
Birhan couldn’t risk it. But Hamid seemed unable to control himself. “What is
it? Tell me now!”
    “Quiet!”
hissed Birhan, immediately regretting telling his friend.
    It’s
this damned khat, it makes the tongue loose!
    Hamid
frowned, looking angry. “Why, you don’t trust me?”
    “Piss
off, you know that’s not it,” he hissed, now certain he had made a mistake. But
if he couldn’t share with his best friend, who could he? He motioned for Hamid
to come closer, stopping. He reached into his pocket and, looking around to
make certain once again they were alone, pulled the bar halfway out in the
rapidly fading light.
    Hamid
gasped, his already wide eyes bulging in shock, his jaw dropping revealing a
mouth that had been devoid of teeth for as long as Birhan had known him.
    “Where
did you find it?”
    Birhan
slipped the bar back in his pocket and continued after his herd, tapping the
cane to keep them apart as Hamid scrambled to keep up. When he was once again
by Birhan’s side, he replied. “By the river, a couple of miles back.